Birthday Presence
by HettyBobcat
Summary: Eddy wakes up to an empty house. A quiet Sunday alone sounds like Heaven, right? Well, Heaven's a lot better with your family with you. (Features SweetEggyRoll's OC, Marion. Edd/Eddy as adults in an established relationship. Rated for everyone.) Written for Eggy's birthday.


**Birthday Presence.**

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><p>*This is a short EddEddy story I wrote for my friend Eggy's birthday. This story features Eggy's original character, Marion (whom we have both used many times in stories and pictures as Double-D's and Eddy's adoptive daughter.) I'm not much of a fan of OCs but I've always been rather attached to this one. I'm also a big fan of the two of them as adults in an established relationship being rather domestic and... I guess mundane to a point. :) I hope you enjoy it. It has been a while since I have written an Edd/Eddy fanfic. :)

Happy Birthday Eggy, if you read this.

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><p>Eddy sat up in bed. He looked around, his eyes barely cracked and the world looked impossibly blurry. He slouched for a while before a sudden yawn and an involuntary stretch motivated him enough to twist his body so that he could put his feet on the floor. Cold. The multi-colored rag rug that was normally under his feet in the morning had been pushed to the side. Fastidious Double-D wouldn't have left it like that if he'd been milling around Eddy's side of the bed, so it could only have been one other person.<p>

"I must have slept like the dead," he muttered aloud to himself, thinking about his rambunctious 6 year old sliding up in the early dawn hours across the laminate floor next to his bed. He scooted the rug back into place a little sloppily but it was good enough. He glanced down the hall before entering the bathroom. Nobody. He showered and shaved and did his other morning business and came back to the bedroom to notice half the bed made, as usual. His side was still rumpled from his waking. He perked an ear to listen but there was hardly a noise to be heard. As he focused he could hear an occasional car going by and birds twittering away, taking care of the last of their business before winter set in. He could hear the house settle and the heater kick on. No sound of the washing machine making its banging racket because Double-D continued to do laundry, obviously, regardless of the fact that Eddy had neglected to fix the darn thing. There was no sound of cartoons or chatter even though it was a Sunday and Marion wouldn't be in school.

He slipped on a pair of flannel lounge pants and a gray tee-shirt that had the words "Call Me Big Papa" next to a picture of Papa Smurf. It had been a gift for his birthday two years ago picked out by his daughter. It had a hole under one sleeve and the thread was coming out of the bottom hem, but he wore it no less than weekly. It was his Sunday shirt. His favorite shirt.

His steps were loud down the hard floor in the narrow hall which led from the bedroom area down to a living room which opened into a dining room/kitchen. They had a high ceiling there and the room was that much colder as a result. The white walls and the early morning sun only added to the chilled effect. But what made it even more was the noticeable lack of his family. He walked to the door which opened into the small back yard. He pulled at the blinds on the door's window and peaked to see if they were out hunting bugs or something. Nothing. The kitchen was markedly empty as well, except for the cat who perched with all the entitlement only a cat could so casually have, on the counter, staring at nothing. Eddy plucked the flyswatter off the nail next to the doorway and threw it in the direction of the cat. It missed, only barely, but it was enough to startle the cat down.

"I said keep off!" he shouted and nearly tripped as the white streak shot right under his legs to disappear most likely into his room. "Where'd Double-D go?" he asked to himself. He wandered back to the bedroom. The window blinds were still brightly lit by the early angle of the sun except for a distinctly cat-shaped silhouette behind them. Eddy ignored her and went for his phone. He pulled it free from the charger and pressed the call button. He picked at a fingernail impatiently but the call went to voice mail. He gave an indignant sniff and a shrug. "Home by myself on a Sunday morning is fine with me. I get to relax, eat a piece of that pie for breakfast, and put my feet up on the coffee table."

Eddy did exactly that. "Freedom!" he exclaimed as he clicked at the remote and settled on a cooking show where people were in a competition to make a drink that incorporated candy. He ate a bite or two of his pie but soon he'd lost interest in it. Even the television program failed to hold his attention. He found himself looking around now and again, starting to sit up as if to stand, then lounging back again. He picked up yesterday's folded newspaper and looked over the cross-word Double-D had been working on and filled in an answer or two himself, knowing it would annoy his spouse to no end. But in no time he was slumped back, staring at the ceiling, and feeling incredibly bored. "Well," he started to himself, "if Dee and Macaroni were here, what would I be doing?" Well, ignoring Dee's 'honey-do' list for starters, Eddy thought to himself with a chuckle. No, he'd probably be sitting here watching TV and complaining that his beloveds were being too loud. He'd probably kiss a few booboos when Marion ran in from failing to climb the tree by the fence. He'd argue about what he _didn't_ want for dinner while Double-D gave him his options from the 'healthy menu.' He'd cut up the classified ads from the Sunday Paper and make paper hats and paper dolls and Double-D would take the sports section and make little simple origami crap and they'd make a big paper mess on the coffee table. He'd open glue bottles and marker caps and complain the whole time that he was missing his program and then the three of them would go do the week's grocery shopping and Eddy would try his best to get to just stay in the car and listen to the radio but he'd get dragged in anyway, as always.

Eddy sat up. He was a grown man and it occurred to him that he spent very little time completely by himself anymore. He'd never been the loner type, always hounding his friends to participate in scams and adventures. As an adult he hadn't had much problem being on his own. I mean, Double-D wasn't exactly sewn to his hip or nothin'! But it just didn't seem that there'd been much occasion to be completely alone at any point once Marion came into the picture. It had been a big decision, but they were both doing pretty well. Certainly they weren't rich by any means, but they were rather comfortable with good careers and a nice house. No matter how ready they thought they were, though, when that baby was handed over to them, she changed their lives and she certainly changed them. Sleepless nights and frantically busy days were mainstays. But for all the chaos, all the lack of peace, Eddy knew he'd not trade it for the world.

So screw this impromptu day-off! He wanted his husband and he wanted his daughter! That was pretty lousy just to run off in the early morning, no note, no mention of where they were off to! Eddy stomped back to the bedroom. The cat was curled in a perfect circle on his pillow, getting her white fur all over the bed. Eddy pushed her off of his side, coaxing her to lie on Double-D's pillow instead. The spot she'd been in was warm. He checked his phone for messages. None. He selected Dee's name and called again. Voice mail. He called again and again and again in quick succession until at last he answered.

"Dee, what the hell?" he said in place of any formal greeting.

"Eddy, have you been trying to call me?"

"Jeez, you're worse than my mother," Eddy pinched the space between his brows. "Yes I've been trying to call you. Where are you and is Marion with you?"

"Yes, of course she's with me. We'll be home soon. I just had some important errands to run early this morning. You were asleep. I couldn't exactly leave her there."

"You couldn't have at least woke me up to say, 'bye hon, we're goin' out' or nothin'? Not even a note?"

"I'll see you when we get home," Edd said curtly in that oblivious way he did when he wanted to pretend like he didn't know what was going on. That had to be the most telling and suspicious of his habits. Eddy found himself pondering what could be behind that. He thought it inside and out but the only things he could think of were ludicrous. He couldn't be steppin' out on him. Not with Marion tagging along. Besides, Dee wasn't the type. Good-Will? He always tried to donate Eddy's stuff behind his back. But he hadn't noticed anything missing. Getting them signed up for yoga classes, maybe? Eddy scratched his head and returned to the living room to flop back onto the couch. Home soon, eh? Maybe he could take a look at that damn washing machine.

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><p>All sounds were muffled from inside the laundry room with his head down in the drum of the washer. Double-D wouldn't have been able to ask for a better activity for Eddy to be doing at exactly that moment as he tiptoed into the house, shushing his giggling girl. Eddy wiggled the machinery a little, trying to see if it made a noise but he couldn't tell without washing a load so he figured he'd just wait until later. He smacked his hands against each other as if he were dusting them off, indicating that he felt if nothing else it'd been a job well done. Emerging from the small room that opened into the kitchen he caught a glimpse of red through the door way. It was only a small hint, there and gone again right against the door frame.<p>

"Guys?" he called. He heard a rubbery, squeaking kind of noise and he thought he heard a tiny laugh. He smiled. He couldn't help it. Through the kitchen doorway and into the living room, a blast of color assaulted his senses in the most wonderful way. Two bundles of balloons squeaked against each other. Marion was hunched over one and it made silly noises in her grasp. She held it up and looked through it.

"Dad, you're all red!" Eddy squatted down and pressed his face to it also. "So are you!" he exclaimed, then picked her up. Standing, he smiled at the other father of his pride-and-joy and gave him a little greeting peck on the lips. "Gross," Marion said in an operatic sing-song voice.

"Holy crap," Eddy said with a smile, poking at a couple of balloons with his finger. "I completely forgot."

"I was counting on it, actually," Double-D said with a grin. "Marion wanted to surprise you. We had to go to three different stores to get this many inflated balloons. Then we went to the bakery and we had to wait two hours for your cake to be decorated. But we didn't want to come home before it was ready, so we visited her grandmother and grandfather. I told them not to call you until we had a chance to get back to the house. You know how your mother is."

"It was my idea!" Marion said loudly, tossing the balloon aside and planting an incredibly sloppy and toothy kiss against her father's cheek.

"You came up with all this on your own, Macaroni?"

She nodded her head with exaggerated enthusiasm. "See your cake! See your cake!"

Double-D took the hand not holding their child and led Eddy to the coffee table. "I noticed you worked on my cross-word. I'm very annoyed," he said, not sounding or seeming annoyed even in the slightest. "Happy Birthday Eddy."

"Light the candles, Father!" Marion cried, kicking her legs excitedly.

"Marion picked out the candles herself," Dee said with a grin as he struck a match. The colorful candles sparked a couple of times and the flames changed colors.

"Wow, you did a good job picking out candles," Eddy said encouragingly. He had to blow out his candles three times and Marion blew them out another five times herself until the candles would no longer light. Marion gave him a set of dollar-store bath-sponges in the shape of a whale and a duck, which she said she'd take of his hands for him if he didn't want them and Double-D got him a vintage vinyl James Brown record. After an hour or so Eddy's mother called and told him about the sweater she bought him but that he'd have to come over and try it on and she'd get another size if it didn't fit. She also spent about 10 minutes of the conversation scolding him for not visiting more frequently and asked him to fix her "email-mail" on her "PC-computer" when he did finally come over.

"Okay Macaroni! Bath's ready! Get in!" Eddy called, rolling his sleeve back down.

"I've got her, Eddy!" Double-D called, carrying her down the hall. "You know hiding under your bed doesn't do any good," he scolded her gently as she kicked her legs dramatically.

"Hey, you can even use my bath sponges. How's that?" he coaxed. That did it and she hopped down from Dee's arms and rushed into the bathroom. Eddy pulled the door to behind her just enough to offer her some privacy but not so much that he couldn't hear her if he needed to.

"So, it's been a pretty busy birthday," Double-D put his arms around his partner and pulled him into a hug. "With as hectic as it always seems to be around here, I bet that quiet morning was pretty nice."

"Baby, I wouldn't trade any of my busy, hectic days for all the peaceful ones I could get. The cake and balloons and record and even bath sponges were great, but having you guys back home was probably my favorite part."

Double-D gave a laugh. "I guess you prefer our presence to our presents. I should just save the money next year and we'll stay in. All three of us piled up in the bed, not moving from one another's proximity all day long."

"I wouldn't take it that far," Eddy chuckled. "But yeah. Stick close. I'm kind of attached to you two."

The End.


End file.
